"His work as an organizer led him to the church, the church was the heart of the community in which he was working, he became religious because of his commitment to social change. It was neither personal, nor familial, but part of his forming an identity, but not just as an individual, as a member of a community." Mark Schmitt writing about Obama's religion, March 19, 2008

Obama's religion provides Christian bragging rights for his supporters. But, none of them wants to explain that the church Obama belongs to isn't exactly Christian. Mark Schmitt wrote, "His work as an organizer led him to the church." Nice way of just slipping that organizer term in there and making it seem as if it's a quite natural transition to go from being a Fabian trained change agent, "committed to social "change," to infiltrating Christian churches and the Democratic Party and cleverly changing all of it into one lovely theory called communitarianism. What would his voting flock do if they knew the official religion of the communitarian community is an ancient pagan cult that worships Lucifer? Would they care? Should they care?

The thing that really gets me is how often we hear the word "change" as if it's a good thing. It's like everyone in the country is hypnotized to forget all the Soviet and Red Chinese propaganda and slogans. But the communitarians are great alchemists and sorcerers, so I suppose mass hypnotism isn't out of their range of tricks.

Via Ezra Klein, I've found that someone has done what I, to my great regret, have not been able to do but have wanted very much to do - describe the relationship between Obama and communitarian philosophy. I'm glad others have picked up on this. Schmidt name-drops Michael Sandel and Charles Taylor, calling Obama "the most deeply communitarian politician -- in the sense of Michael Sandel or Charles Taylor's point inarguable point that our identities cannot exist outside of our of social interactions and networks -- I have ever seen."

"Schmidt is correct that the point is inarguable, and yet very, very few people in America appreciate it. In some ways, this individualistic culture is constitutionally averse to it. It goes directly against the grain of what seems to belong most to American culture - the idea that society merely gets in the way of individual thought, belief, and action. There is undoubtedly some insight in the individualistic perspective, but it misses about half of the truth. I strongly agree with the communitarian perspective, but I am aware of very few people who share it. But Obama does. And, even better, he makes a good case that communitarian insights have a home in American tradition and practice.

"Also, Schmidt on "theories of change."

Here's a bit of what Ezra Klein had to say about Obama's communitarianism:

"I'm mystified when people talk about Obama as if he were pure ego, as if he believes that the "Barack Obama brand" itself delivers change. He is in fact the most deeply communitarian politician -- in the sense of Michael Sandel or Charles Taylor's point inarguable point that our identities cannot exist outside of our of social interactions and networks -- I have ever seen. His identity -- as African-American, as Christian -- is chosen and it is chosen because it situated him within a community.

For Sandel and others, "communitarianism" was a critique within liberalism to the overly "atomistic" and legalistic view of identity of rights-oriented liberalism and particularly the influence ofJohn Rawls. There was an attempt in the 1990s to build a kind of political movement around the idea, and Bill Clinton adopted some of the language, but it didn't really go very far, partly because, as Paul Starr writes in Freedom's Power, "it has at best been a supplement or corrective to tendencies within liberalism." But in Obama that supplement or corrective can be quite substantive, as I thought was shown in Alec McGillis's comparison of Obama and Edwards in their approaches to poverty -- for Edwards poverty is about not having enough money, and the solutions are economic, including helping people move to where jobs are, where Obama was attracted to comprehensive efforts to rebuild community, including the non-economic aspects of li

So, it looks like the term is slowly making it's way into the mainstream, finally. Our years of struggling to get people to believe it's real are coming to an end.

We went and poked around Vassar's Sociology department and looked at other courses relative to Quality of Life. Unbelieveable how long they've been teaching everything we write about at the ACL. It's all connected. Community organizers have to be trained somewhere, don't they? How else would they gain their deep committment?

"[237b. Community Development] (1)

"This course provides “hands-on” lessons in community organization, urban inequality, and economic development that are intended to supplement theoretical perspectives offered in other classes. Students examine local efforts to revitalize neighborhoods, provide social services, enhance social capital among residents, and promote homeowner and business investment in the contemporary city."

Vassar teaches it's students where modern social theory originated.

"247a. Modern Social Theory: Marx, Durkheim, and Weber (1)

(Same as Anthropology 247a and b) "This course focuses on a comparison of the principal assumptions and the central concepts contributing to the formation of modern social theory. Readings include selections from Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Ms. Moon."

More recent references to communitarianism:

"Tonight I would have you contrast John Adams — a fine, wise venture in historical recreation — with the peculiar views expressed by Michael Hirsh in Newsweek. Hirsh thinks the nation has been “coarsened by Southernism,” which he contrasts with the “diplomatic, communitarian Yankee sensibility.” Say what? When did such a thing ever exist, outside the Oneida colony?" http://www.seablogger.com/?p=10613

"A speech designed to lull us into a warm communitarian stupor does not change who populates Obama’s campaign staff. They are the left of the left, the progressive revisionists, and the leftovers of the Carter and Clinton administrations in all their folly. They are the socialists, the raging radicals, the globalists and the opportunists that do not learn from failure and cannot see beyond their insipid ideologies. The pleasing demeanor and the measured voice cannot hide the heart of Senator Obama’s loyalties. Change for change’s sake is usually a failure. Change for ideology’s sake often is a disaster." http://wordforit.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/our-imperfect-union/

"There have always been two major threads twisting through American history; call them the "communitarian" and the "individualistic." The first, embodied by the likes of Jefferson and Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and the Kennedys, have understood and counseled that this nation's progress depends on a collective "we're-all-in-this-together" attitude. In an earlier generation, the "communitarian" thread was perhaps best expressed by JFK when he said "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

"In opposition to this has been the "individualistic" thread; the one best embodied by the Adamses and Tafts, by Nixon and to a lesser extent by Reagan. This attitude understands and fosters an America that is the product of unbridled, untrammeled, unregulated individual effort. It is the Horatio Alger myth writ large; the "Anyone-with-the-will-and-energy can-make-it-in-America" point of view.

"This week, Senator Barack Obama declared himself to be firmly, foursquarely and articulately, a devotee of the communitarian school of thought and action. As such, he, like Kennedy before him, has laid down a communal challenge to America. It is the challenge of FDR -- that we not fear the present, but work together as a nation so that the weakest and the least among us can find dignity and hope in the future. It is a call to our higher angels; a call that requires us to collectively roll up our sleeves and together, work for a better society, a better world." http://kurtfstone.typepad.com/kurt_f_stone_speaks_/2008/03/the-speech.html

"Political, social and cultural issues aren’t what they used to be. Things have been changing. Change agents are hard at work within the church, transforming churches from Christ centered, Spirit-led, Word focused, Gospel proclaiming, called out (from the world) assemblies, into what they would like them to be: communitarian social service distribution centers. The plan involves recruiting Christian churches to work in unity with other religions, the government, and corporations, to solve the world’s social, economic and physical problems." http://witnessingencouragement.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/change-agents-in-your-church/

"According to the communitarian network Democracy Now, Demonstrators converged in big cities like New York, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco Miami and San Francisco, and smaller towns in Vermont and Ohio, among others, to add their voices to a call to end the war."http://paraguayparakeet.blogspot.com/2008/03/iraq-war-unpopular-abroad-and-in-us.html

"Bring on the next civic generation, the Millennials: "Listen to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and you'll notice one of his most encouraging characteristics is his communitarian ethic.

"He uses 'we' instead of 'I.' He talks about the role of citizens, not just his own. His standard cheer is the Chicano rallying cry 'Si se puede!' -- Yes we can! in English -- and it speaks to the hunger so many Americans like myself share. We yearn for a revitalization of a communal civic ethic in this country, after decades of individualism on steroids."" http://www.anewworkforce.com/2008/04/bring-on-next-civic-generation.html

"More than 20 years ago Ronald Reagan shifted the dominant political discourse in America. Today it looks like it may be Obama’s time. His campaign for president continues on a visionary path. Odd it is to see a communitarian vision poised against the backdrop of the every capitalist for himself theater of the past 20 plus years."

And then there are those who are sure communitarianism is just plain nice:

"There’s something to be said for communitarianism like that, for understanding how relationships work and trying to smooth them over. It’s not about greed or commercialism, and it surely isn’t about being communistic, as people so often declare with misplaced vitriol these days. It’s about sharing, and learning to do it as an adult, to help other people out." http://greetingsearthlings.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/the-great-communitarian/

I suppose my work could be considered "misplaced vitriol" (virtiol: bitterly abusive feeling or expression.) But based on my research, I don't think it qualifies as misplaced. And THAT is the debate we have yet to have in this country, isn't it?

And here's an Independent Communitarian Blogspot (as if there can be such a thing) who well understands the communitarian roots in Buber's I and Thou theory:

"The essence of a society beneficial to all independent communitarians, would be a charter that guides custom, while allowing for privacy and associational freedom,recognizing that we are symbiotic lifeforms living on a symbiotic planet.I Am The Way I Am, meets I And Thou and flourishes." http://independentcommunitarian.blogspot.com/2008/04/citizenshop.html

Anyway, the point is.. there's LOTS of people talking about communitarianism these days. Have we moved out of the conspiracy theory category yet?

This is the definition of a communitarian according to a new political "test":

"Communitarian

"Your commitment to both equality and stability makes you a blend of the Socialist and the Conservative. This combination may seem unusual but consider the way in which both think loyalty to community takes priority over loyalty to oneself.

"You recognise the value of traditional culture and institutions. You also value government intervention in the economy. You hope that a combination of traditional values and interventionist economics will protect your way of life. You are concerned that the twin forces of free markets and permissive culture promote selfishness and erode community standards. If this is too bland for you then try the Authoritarian on for size." http://politicalobjectivestest.blogspot.com/2007/04/communitarian.html

"In fact these mexican illegals are living under a different and separate law and judicial system than we. They also have separate economics than us."- This is actually, literally, true. Technically, there is the current constitutional law at work, but they have brought Communitarian Law with them. This is the future for the US, they know, much of the judiciary, and the govt knows it. Some of LE knows it. At present everyone is living in a twilight of the “old system”, the illegals, and their enablers at official levels know that it is only a matter of time before their legal system supercedes the constitutional one. Mexico’s bureacrats, and law graduates, are already gearing up for the introduction of communitarian law into the US, knowing that their American equivalents will be handicapped by qualifications in a system that no longer exists. The NAU bureacracy and judiciary will be top heavy with Mexicans. Similar thing occurred in Europe with the EU, the early communitarian nations dominated."Comment on thread at immigration watchdog.com

Friday, April 25, 2008

Revisions to the Manifesto are almost complete, we just want to go over it one more time before we send it to the printer. It's been hard to get any work done lately with the realities of our roughing it lifestyle in our face every day. We've got challenges we've never quite encountered, like the outhouse filled up with the neighbors sharing it and none of us had a clue how to dig a new hole in the frozen ground. They also put all their garbage by our burn barrell and the ravens got into it before we got out there..ewwwww.

Already 2 grizzly sightings on the road a few miles in each direction and Sharon's (the Mercantile) husband had a scary close encounter with a griz Fish & Game were tracking that had mauled a caribou. It lunged at him and Jim Jordan stuck out his Hams beer and the griz bit into it, popped the can, freaked out and ran away. The story was verified by a local skeptic who went to the spot and looked at the tracks. Jim has the beer can. He promised me an interview for the community blog. but anyway we're all keeping on our toes watching for bears while we clean the yard, uh huh. Lots of good local jokes about beers and bears.. somebody should contact Hams.

PrimitivWerks will open June 1 as planned. The museum may also be finished by then but it will be underway if not completed. No idea if Camp Redington will be open or if Tim's gonna go flag for the summer again. There's a lot of road work out here this summer and it's very tempting to go stand on the side of the road for 12 hours a day holding a stop sign for $25 to $42 an hour. Everyone we know out here is worried about next winter already because of the rising fuel costs. Fuel affects all Alaskan goods and services because everything is trucked in to us. The best milk in the state, Matanuska Maid Dairy went out of business and I just met one of the last two dairy farmers in Delta at Tonsina Lodge last week who told me he may have to sell all his cows cause he can't afford the feed. I made the mistake of telling him and his wife about NAIS and was so sorry I did after I saw the looks on their faces.

Moved the first load to the office/art studio today and already it feels fantastic to be in the new space. Our road is so muddy it's impassable without 4 wheel drive so things are a little behind schedule but we're moving as fast as the snow is.

Thanks so much to everyone who's been helping us lately, I'm very humbled by the support we get, it motivates me to do more and become a better organized writer. The new office will be home to ACL Books, PrimitivWerks, Camp Redington, Alaskan Webwriters and GerTee. It has high ceilings, windows, a great porch and lots of sun. After 7 months in a dark, cramped gertee, it's almost sureal.

I thought i finally had someplace to put my big 4x8' US flag sign but Nordica isn't as big a fan of flags as I am. She didn't grow up putting her hand over her heart everytime she hears Taps and she was slightly embarassed when I put out a huge Alaska state flag and a US flag over my house in Seattle when I started ACL research. Besides the fact I was raised on post, I was on a marching drill team when I was in high school so I have a thing for parade fields, flags, pomp and ceremony. I know they're all connected to the creepy communitarians but I still love the Shriners and what they say they represent. It's weird how selective I am now about what more I want to know, and how some things just refuse to sink in the way they should. The process of deprogramming ourselves and accepting the truth about the things we hold closest to our hearts is too hard sometimes. Holding on to the US flag is like holding on to my innocence and something that doesn't mean that much in the scope of things. I want to pretend I feel the trust and surety I felt when I believed my dad was fighting for the right side. I want to know there are US soldiers who still believe in what it means to say a toast to "God, country and the 82nd Airborne!" My dad never once in his entire career said a toast to "Gaia, supranationalism and the Mexican Navy!"

Maybe I can put the US flag in the museum, it's practically a relic now anyway, right?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Samuel Huntington was writing about Japanese communitarianism in 1982, the same time the "IDEA" for communitarian solutions jumped up and hit Amitai Etzioni in the head during lunch one day. What a coinkydink.

"AMERICAN IDEALS VERSUS INSTITUTIONS 9the extent that those ideals derive from Protestant sources, they must also be weakened by trends toward secularism that exist even in the United States. Each of the four creedal passion periods was preceded or accompanied by a religious "great awakening." These movements of religious reform and revival, however, have successively played less central roles in American society, that of the 1950s being very marginal in its impact compared to that of the 1740s. As religious passion weakens, how likely is the United States to sustain a firm commitment to its traditional values? Would an America without its Protestant core still be America?

Second, the social, economic, and cultural changes associated with the transition from industrial to postindustrial society could also give rise to new political values that would displace the traditional liberal values associated with bourgeois society and the rise of industrialism. In the 1960s and 1970s in both Europe and America, social scientists found evidence of the increasing prevalence of "postbourgeois" or "postmaterialist" values, particularly among younger cohorts. In a somewhat similar vein, George Lodge foresaw the displacement of Lockean, individualistic ideology in the United States by a "communitarian" ideology, resembling in many aspects the traditional Japanese collectivist approach.12 " {emphasis added}

"SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON is Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs and director of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. During 1977-1978 he served at the White House as coordinator of security planning for the National Security Council. His many books include The Soldier and the State; The Common Defense; Political Order in Changing Societies; and most recently American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, from which this article is adapted."

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The Anti Communitarian Manifesto and this blog are part of a sociology class at Vassar! Welcome to all students who come here today. Many thanks to the faculty member who chose to include our thesis in an accredited academic debate. We'd like permission to reprint any essays that refer to our work, favorably or not.

Course description:

In a world of cultural diversity, global inequality, and political conflict, enhancing quality of life is arguably the unifying principle in our ambitions for social planning and personal lifestyle. But just what does "quality of life" mean? How did it become a preeminent concern for policy-makers and the public at large? And what is at stake if we subordinate other conceptions of the common good to this most subjective and individualistic of ideas?

This course takes up these questions through an examination of quality of life's conceptual dimensions and social contexts. We will read a variety of primary sources and recent arguments in order to explore the idea of quality of life and the debates about whether it is improving or deteriorating in various domains. We will also use a sociological imagination to understand critically and historically how "quality of life" has come to frame personal aspirations and social concerns in societies today.

We're listed with Etzioni's idea of voluntary simplicity. Does he live in a gertee now too?

It's "An Analysis of the Alinsky Model." Clinton apparently was prompted to write about it by Mr Alinsky himself, and her acknowledgements say he also offered her a job. Alinsky "created a particular approach to community organizing," a kind that "many considered [it] a dangerous socio/political philosophy."

Darren wrote:

"As I said, he was such an idol to Hillary Clinton, that she wrote her senior thesis on him. Yet, in his second book, published in 1971 by the title of Rules for Radicals, he openly expresses his admiration for Lucifer.

"Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer."

Clearly, Saul Alinsky was a man who took pride in being a radical for the "common good". And he is one who apparently helped to shape the mindset of the woman who we now know as presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton." {end quote}

Darren's in contact with Nancy Levant still so maybe we'll get an update on her current situation very soon. I miss her articles and her spirited defiance, and I'm sure there are many others looking forward to whatever it is she's preparing to write next. We continue to wish her all the best.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

It's gorgeous here today, 60 degrees above inside without a fire! So much to do outside, not the least being rebuilding my moldy, swamped gertee on higher ground. It's warm enough to move to the office finally which means we can get back on track with ACL projects now too. But, heh, thanks to Pete we spent the last 3 hours reading the links he sent from watch.pair.com. This is one of the best websites I found in my earliest days of research. I learned some of the most important information from them (like who the John Birchers are and other groups).

Again, because I was avoiding the religious angle, I didn't spend a lot of time studying their Bible work or prophecies. So the weird thing is, this linkage to the Dragon Court is exactly what my friend was telling me. He says he was conceived and born in freemason/Wiccan ceremonies and that he left the cult as a young man. His theory includes all the Elohim and Annunaki terms. Now the writers at watch.pair lend support to the idea of "them" as serpents and all connected by blood. Now when anyone asks me who I'm voting for in ANY election, I'll say I, like everyone else, will vote for the Merovingian candidate, since that's the only political party in the USA. If my conversation partner doesn't know what that means I can explain, "they're all reformed communitarians."

This one article shows me how behind I am in my research, and how badly the ACL needs a page on the Bnai Brith. Hopefully the new office space will organize the space to do ACL work again.

Thanks Pete! Now I'm going to be thinking about MY bloodline versus theirs... who are the Friedrichs of my line, how far do WE go back? My dad always claimed we were direct descendents of Frederick the Great but nobody took that seriously. Duh, I'm po' American, we trace our ancestry back about 4 generations is all. But Hey! Maybe we're one of them too... how messed up would it be to find your own name in one of these lineage charts? I have had several people who refer to the ACL as an "obvious Jewish site." And of course there is the whole issue of how can you be the antithesis to something so perfect it gives rise to no antithesis?

Perty weird to see how Angelina Pitt is described as the Angel from the Bottomless Pit. Makes the ACL International Court page with it's "caution: sexually explicit materials" look like the Disney version of the truth. I feel like I don't know anything.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

We're building a miniature "eco-village" in the office as soon as it quits snowing and it all goes away finally. I've got spring fever bad ths year, we've been living in a tiny space for a long time. For theraphy I started making a model gertee and it blew into this huge project. We'll also have a 16 inch teepee, Tim's minature cabins, and even a cardboard travel trailer (which is an Alaskan heritage). So our little "camp" will be as authentic as we can make it, except for the smells. Along the way to setting this up I learned there are few pictures on the miniature market. So I've taken thumbnails of the Redington family photos and will sell them as framed miniatures to our summer visitors with portions of the profits going toward building the Alaskan Cultural Heritage Museum (which is what Nordica wants to call it now).

Alaska has always been filled with funny little dwellings, it is a badge of honor here to claim to have roughed it your first decade in the state. While my tent lifestyle seems brave and amazing to people outside, we know all kinds of people who lived in wall tents and 13 foot travel trailers with 3 or more people. My girlfriend Mary in Fairbanks had three babies at home in their dinky little place, Catherine had Jamie in their tent in Chitina, it's nor the norm but it is a fact of life here. Low-income and young Alaskans make do, and they feel like they're better people because of it. To Nordica and I, that is our true "cultural heritage," and that is what we intend to honor with our living Alaskan history project.

Visitors on our road increased 26 percent last year... that's the National Park Service count. The park also has their own cultural heritage project going on. They too are gathering the stories of the old Sourdoughs and Indians and saving their history for future generations. All we're doing differently is saying we're still here and our Alaskan spirit is still alive. The park explanations for why people are "allowed" to hunt out here is well worth the read for anyone who doesn't believe we've lost our lands to the international community. They think we're a Scenic ByWay and a buffer zone, and we're at the tip of the Wildlands Project (Y2Y?).

We've got more bike trails coming and meetings on motorized access to trails... same crap they went through in Yellowstone is now on our doorstep. But who knows for sure where it will all lead. NAIS is a growing topic in forums across the country, that program alone is waking up the people who (I think) have the most power to stop the plan... the rural landowners. They've been the most organized from the beginning and have a huge linkage.. I can't imagine that the Sawdust Rebellion and the Klammath Bucket Brigade have fallen off the face of the earth. I'd imagine they're all over the y2y issue and be shocked if they aren't. Once our people connect the land grabs to LA21 it's all downhill for the communitarians from there, right?

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Comments on the post a few days ago have exceeded my expectations; how about this for an off topic turn:

I have a very interesting friend out here who has his own version of current events. I've read a LOT of far-out things since I began studying communitarianism, but this theory is just so horrible and unbelievable I usually bust out laughing when he gets really into explaining it (I'm one of those jerks who laugh when they're astonished). It goes something like this:

He insists there are more than one species living on the planet. He says all the different "stages" of man's evolution were designed to keep us from learning the "truth" about the difference between us. He uses a lot of Biblical history to back up his theory (as do Marrs, Ike et. al.) He says the difference between the two main species is hu-mans are a DNA experiment who have an alien conscience, and that the way to tell the difference is how they react to being "caught" doing something immoral. He says the human will feel guilt and shame but the man will only worry about being caught. His theory is that "man" does not have the capability to feel remorse and ultimately is nothing more than food for the carnivorous hidden alien rulers. He says I am "obviously" human and that my job is to keep the cattle happy and calm before the slaughter, and he can't see why I want to "stir them up when it won't do a bit of good anyway."

I have to admit the first time I heard him explain his theory to me I went back to my tent and thought about it all night. I really do try to be fair to anyone who wants to tell me what they think is going on. But there's one thing these Wiccan/freemason religions seem to have in common, and that is they have NOTHING to hope for. They are the most depressing and defeatist beliefs I've ever been exposed to. Either we all have to die to save overpopulated Mother Earth, or we all have to die because the gods are hungy.

These beliefs do not incur a sense of obligation to "help" their fellow individual man next door. Had I been a Wiccan I would certainly never have undertaken ACL work. Ironically, the first placed I camped after I decided to go "homeless" in 2001 was a private park that had been used for Wiccan ceremonies for decades. Their little icons were everywhere, so the first night I went outside and announced to the manevolent spirits that I would tolerate their presence and avoid their alters only if they stayed out of my tent space. I stood there in the mist and lightly falling snow and I had no fear, because I knew in my heart that my weak, wavering and often non-existent belief in Jesus is more powerful than any petty "god" that needs sexual orgies to survive. So while I can't join in any discussion about what the Bible says or doesn't say, I can attest to the living presence in my heart of a power so overwhelming that I was compelled to drop everything in my life and work day and night for seven years to study the Plan. I have lost hope hundreds of times and I've shed a thousand tears, but then something wonderful always happens to change the way I feel. For bookworms like me it's easy to know exactly what I think. But it's difficult for me to examine my feelings, and I've never been able to explain them.

I know that one primary goal of the planners is to cause us to lose hope and give up.

John Milton defined Hell as something like, "hope never comes that comes to all."

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Two years ago we arrived in the Copper River Basin for a short vacation. I'd never been down the Edgerton Hwy, not in all my years in Alaska, and it was a huge suprise to see the view of the mountains from here. Our state is so huge there are so many places I've yet to see. I fell in love with my camp in Chitina and was able to stay a full five weeks without seeing one park ranger.

The House Natural Resource Committee has sent HR 2016, the National Landscape Conservation System bill, to the House floor and could be voted on as early as today. The measure would place 26 million acres under jurisdiction of the National Park Service in the 13 Western States, and could lead to the end of multiple-use on much of those lands. {bold emphasis mine}

The legislation codifies a system that former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt initiated in 2000. It includes 17 National Conservation Areas, 15 National Monuments, 38 Wild and Scenic Rivers, 161 Wilderness Acres, 5203 miles of National Scenic and Historic Trails, and 604 Wilderness Study Areas -- all in the 13 Western States. Not surprisingly, the bill sponsors are predominantly from the east, and no member from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Utah or Wyoming is cosponsors. These five states alone have 82% of the Wild and Scenic Rivers, 62% of the National Historic Trails, 45% of the Wilderness Study Areas, and 33% of the National Scenic Trails. Specifically, HR 2016 will:

1. Codify by statute the NLCS, adding an additional layer of bureaucracy to traditionally multi-use BLM lands in the restrictive fashion of the National Park Service.

2. Elevates “protecting the values for which the components of the system were designated,” above existing management requirements, placing a higher value on “landscape preservation” than what the existing law provides.

4. Management requirements set forth in the bill are vague, opening an invitation for environmental groups to unduly influence how the lands will be managed.

5. Authorizes land managers to trump access rights and productive uses if viewed to conflict with “protecting the values” for which the land was designated.

6. Contains no provision where local governments can raise and address local impacts.

The Bush administration has shown no interest in protecting the multiple-use status of the 26 million acres either, as Interior Secretary Kempthorne’s staff was sent to testify in favor of the measure. The Senate has already passed the companion bill out of committee, where it is also waiting for a floor vote.

It is imperative to contact your Representative immediately asking them to vote against HR 2016. Any Congressman can be reached by calling 202-225-3121. Don’t delay. Remember, the bill could come up for a vote anytime this week, including today, so call immediately.

Then somebody from our neighborhood made a very interesting search for terms that led them to my blog, and led me to this:

Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to critically assess the various transitional strategies for radical social change which have been proposed in the past, as well as some recently developed strategies, like the civil societarian approach, the Libertarian Municipalism strategy and the ‘lifestyle’ strategies. Second, to propose a new transitional strategy which aims at the transition to a confederal Inclusive Democracy. In this context, the emancipatory subject in present society is discussed, a new type of politics and political organisation is suggested, and a series of steps for the transition to a political, economic, ecological democracy, as well as a ‘democracy in the social realm’ is proposed.

The collapse of actually existing socialism and the parallel failure of Western social democracy and its replacement by today’s neoliberal consensus in combination with the rise of the ideology of postmodernism[1] and the decline of antisystemic movements[2] have inevitably led to a corresponding decline of a discussion which was still flourishing a few decades ago: the discussion on a transitional strategy towards an alternative society. This was inevitable, because the abandonment by the Left (Old, New, and Green) of any vision for an alternative society in effect made such strategies redundant. A basic criterion which we may use in distinguishing between the various transitional strategies which have been proposed in the past and the few being proposed today is whether a strategy aims at reforming the present institutions without proposing any alternative institutional framework, or whether, instead, it aims at replacing the present society’s institutional framework, that is, the system of the globalised market economy and the complementary institution of representative ‘democracy’, as well as the corresponding system of values that constitutes the dominant social paradigm on which the present society is based. On the basis of this criterion we may distinguish between ‘non-systemic’ and ‘anti-systemic’ strategies.

This is a very long scholarly presentation that I need time to review, but here's their conclusion:

Finally, the transitional strategy should involve steps in the development of institutions and values which aim at the reintegration of society with Nature and the elimination of any human attempt to dominate the natural world. This implies, apart from participating in struggles against the activities of the political and economic elites which have resulted in the present ecological crisis, the initiation of moves for the establishment of alternative ‘eco-friendly’ institutions and renewable forms of energy. In fact, as I showed elsewhere,[94] the establishment of the new political and economic institutions itself and particularly the drastic decentralisation that the new institutions involve is a crucial step in this direction, as it allows the development of new lifestyles , new patterns of work, production, energy use and consumption, which are perfectly compatible with the aim of an ecological democracy.

In conclusion, no one should have any illusions that the establishment of democracy will be a swift process or that the implementation of a transitional strategy program will not have a hard time from the elites controlling the state machine and the market economy. This process is bound to be a long one involving a huge popular movement and will extend over an entire historical period. However, without underestimating the difficulties involved in the context of today’s perfected methods of brain control and economic violence, which, in fact, might prove more effective methods than pure state violence in suppressing a movement for an inclusive democracy, I think that the proposed strategy is a realistic strategy on the way to a new society.

Now the real "people" who live on the land and want to own what they legally own have become the "elites" standing in the way of inclusive democratic progress. I find it interesting that the conclusion affirms the concept of "brain control aand economic violence." Definitely worth studying... but I won't be able to get to it for months. We're moving into our new office this week and getting ready for summer tourist season. We have a major book editing project that will take our course of thinking into the more spiritual realm of ACL research. I need to contemplate what motivates me. I don't often consider what role my beliefs play in my devotion to exposing the communitarian lie, knowing as I do how twisted up it is with false patriotism and new age Christian religion. Who are the new breed of Christians who practice snobbery and condemnation of others as a daily ritual? How can people do so much meddling and manipulation, while spreading gossip and lies, always claim to go to "church" and use THAT as their justification for their rudeness and evil acts toward others? My childhood experience with Jesus taught me to be kind, above all other things. Yet, to my sister Judy, and her growing clique of "church" affiliates, kindness is reserved for above poverty level members only. So what "God" do they pray to in their oft cited claims to superior morality? It's incredibly painful to see the communitarian church's influence on our family and friends. Wasn't "brother against brother" something predicted for the end times in their Bible?

Monday, April 7, 2008

I'm on this mailing list from the NYU Jean Monnet Center. It looks like it might be kind of interesting to look into "the slow and at times controversial process of 'Europeanizing' the Italian legal system."

Dear friends of the Jean Monnet Center,

We are pleased to announce the online publication of the first paper in the 2008 Jean Monnet Working Paper series. We include the abstract of this paper below:

The paper looks into the slow and at times controversial process of 'Europeanising' the Italian legal system, in order to exemplify how adaptation to changes takes place within entire branches of the state administration. Three examples are selected, all within the domain of labour law: state aid illegally granted to support training and work experience contracts; fixed term labour contracts in the public sector; free movement of foreign language assistants. Multi-level regulatory techniques are at the origin of adaptation, geared by institutional and quasi-institutional actors. The main emphasis is on national judges engaging in a dialogue with the ECJ and delivering changes into the legal order as a whole.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

I accidentally went to this site just as I was logging off. I wrote about y2y in an earlier post but I don't remember going to their website. This is very dangerous propaganda and I'm sorry I haven't addressed it properly. Ya have to go see the map. I've driven all through the big swatch of land these folks plan to steal, and it's spectacular landscape, very well taken care of by the locals for thousands of years. How arrogant do you have to be to claim to "ensure" it continues to function? The worst part about all this is the plans to TEACH us stupid locals how to become "better stewards" of the land. Locally, we have WISE offering seminars in the Wrangells area to help us to better preserve the park for global eco-tourism. These are people going in for the pillaging after the war has been fought and lost. They know LA21 is the law now.

They see NO barriers to this ludicrous plan to steal prime real estate for thousands of miles. What a nightmare for all landowners along the route.. the big, fat, wide piece that stretches all the way to the Cascades!!! These communitarian thieves aren't just taking us down one by one anymore... this affects millions of people... millions. Most of whom haven't got the first clue their land was robbed well over 15 years ago. Like vultures in Armani suits, the communitarians arrive on the scenes with their big Idea. Now I know why they outlawed guns in Canada. Those people in Yukon never struck me as wimps, and I hope they find something in common with the rural people in the U.S. Western states before this program develops any further. But the word I get is most people still refuse to believe any of this is really happening. Does this tie into the rumor that 10,000 people a week are losing their homes? Or is that real news too?

How do you spell CARPETBAGGER? S`U`S`T`A`I`N`A`B`L`E D`E`V`E`V`E`L`O`P`E`R.

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is combining science and stewardship, we seek to ensure that the world renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of its natural and human communities, for current and future generations.

What is the Hegelian Dialectic?and The Historical Evolution of Communitarian Thinkingby Niki Raapana and Nordica Friedrich, 2003Seattle, Wyoming, Alaska.

(Update June 6, 2013: Ten years ago when we first published our free online antithesis to communitarianism we were, like most Americans, identifying it as a softer version of communism. A decade of further study showed us conclusively that communism is only one piece of the whole system introduced under communitarianism. Free trade and corporate capitalism are just as much a part of the economic theory, and unlike atheistic communism, Communitarianism is also a religion. There are just as many communitarians on the political right as there are on the political left. Almost all major organized religions have embraced Communitarianism. Many new movements that sound like they're promoting freedom from corporations and bankers promote communitarian solutions. The thing to remember is communitarianism is NOT a natural part of anything, it is a virus that attaches itself to everything and desrtoys wahtever value the true believers place on it. As Anti Communitarians we do not oppose any of the individual religions or political or economic beliefs that are part of the scam. We oppose the Communitarin influence on everything, and we are convinced Amitai Etzioni, the "everything expert" behind all of it, is a con.

In order to fully grasp the enormity of the system of global governance we faced in 1999, we started by understanding the formula for changing society. The Hegelian formula was well identified by many writers before we began our studies. What no one else had ever done before us was to identify the final synthesis in the Hegelian dialectic as communitarianism. The Anti Communitarian Manifesto is the only antithesis to communitarianism in the world. We were also the first to show Local Agenda 21 as communitarianism and provide ample sources for our claim. We were the first Americans to do an indepth study of Communitarian Law and provide sources for our claim that LA21 is a blueprint for communitarian law. Our works have been much plagiarized over the past decade. Regardless of what you may hear or read, Agenda 21 planners do not now nor have they ever identified their sustainable development plans as "Communitarian." The only evidence for LA21 plans being based in communitarian is our thesis and research.)

Abstract

Background: Communitarianism is the theory that individual rights must be balanced against the rights of the "community." Its many proponents insist that individual rights and liberties pose a real threat to the health and safety of the "community at large." The founders of the Communitarian Network began "shoring up the moral, social and political environment" in the early 1990s. Today the communitarian theory is the basis for hundreds of new global rules and regulations eliminating individual rights, yet fewer than one percent of the affected population knows about it.

Results: The progression of recent history clearly shows a dedicated effort to lead the world into unknowingly accepting communitarian solutions. To understand how philosophical Communitarianism advanced itself, the authors traced it back to the original source. Using the works of the leading Communitarian theorists, they followed the path from Seattle Neighborhood Plans all the way to the International Court at the Hague.

Conclusion: The foundation for the communitarian theory is undisputedly the Hegelian dialectic; Part I, a tutorial on the Hegelian dialectic is fully substantiated by Jesuit priests, Renowned Marxists and Pope John Paul. Theoretical analysis, i.e.. (A) Communitarianism did not evolve naturally (B) and it was never a movement that arose out of U.S. society (C) therefore, communitarianism has no natural home in the United States., is further substantiated with 70 verifiable, solid references that overwhelmingly support it. Part II, also heavily referenced, outlines historical events leading to the global communitarian synthesis. The changing duality of the new legal system clearly indicates Communitarianism is a criminal enterprise whose aim is to destroy all legal institutions established under national and state constitutions. Both Part I and Part II establish the aims and shared goals of the lesser arms involved in the global communitarian insurrection, showing direct ties to the War on Terror business, the European Union's integration under Communitarian Law, the emerging North American Free Trade Zone, UN Local Agenda 21, global sustainable development programs, Regionalization, Faith-Based Initiatives, Volunteer America, Community Oriented Policing, Rebuilding Community and Community Development.

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I'm Niki Raapana, an independent researcher, co-founder of the Anti Communitarian League (ACL) with Nordica Friedrich, co- author of 2020: Our Common Destiny and co-author of the Anti Communitarian Manifesto.